Rumsfeld's Rules: Politics, The Congress And The Press

[Canuckistanian]

I found out about this at Think Progress. I don't know if Rusmfeld is the author or not. You have to see the whole thing. This is an excerpt.

Very revealing (bolding mine).

http://www.library.villanova.edu/vbl/bweb/rumsfeldsrules.pdf

POLITICS, THE CONGRESS, AND THE PRESS
− First rule of politics: you can’t win unless you’re on the ballot.
Second rule: If you run, you may lose.
And, if you tie, you do not win.

− Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.

− The winner is not always the swiftest, surest or smartest. It’s the one willing to get up at 5:00
a.m. and go to the plant gate to meet the workers. (Unknown)

− In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.

− The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.

− When someone with a rural accent says, “I don’t know much about politics,” zip up your
pockets.

− If you try to please everybody, somebody’s not going to like it.

− Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.


− “The oil can is mightier than the sword.” (Senator Everett Dirksen, (R-IL))

− Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.

− Remember where you came from.

− Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by accident. Each managed to get
there for some reason. Learn what it was and you will know something important about them,
about our country and about the American people.

− With the press there is no “off the record.”

− There are only three responses to questions from the press: (1) “I know and will tell you”;
(2) “I know and I can’t tell you”; and (3) “I don’t know.” (Dan Rather)

[TheMadMonk]

1. Looks like a rather bog standard "Murphy's Laws of Politics" ...

...to me.

I've seen several of your quotes about the place, Readers Digeset most likely.

This just looks like anothe compilation of pithy little things like:

Never play leapfrog with a unicorn; and
A Smith and Wesson beats five aces.

In fact it would not at all suprise me to learn that there was an "extended version" of this list accreting new "One Liners" alongside the light bulb and blonde jokes on rec.humour.funny, deep in the web's understratum.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Did you see the pdf?

On the first page:
First Edition - 12/1/74
Copyright 1980
Donald Rumsfeld
All Rights Reserved
Revised – 2/20/01

[Canuckistanian]

3. Shameless kick...